Why My Heart Fluttered
by FamousNoOne
Summary: After a run-in with Severus, Lily wonders if James may not be the arrogant boy she thought he was. Now being continued, thanks to pressure from FredNeverDied.
1. In the Corridor

**A/N: First published fic! Leave me a review and tell me what you think!**

"Honestly, Lily, this is getting ridiculous," Severus said, pulling me to the side of the hallway. I rolled my eyes.

"Go away, Severus," I replied, not wanting to be in his presence after what he said to me two weeks ago.

"Not until you agree that you're acting childish," he sneered. I pulled away from him.

"I am not acting childish!" I yelled. People turned to stare at us, so I lowered my voice. "I'm acting like a girl whose supposed best friend called her a – a Mudblood."

"You're making it worse than it seems, Lily. I just said it because I was angry!" He grabbed my arm again and began making his way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Get off, Severus!" I yelled. He didn't let go. I was about to pull my wand out and hex him, but someone interrupted, pulling him away from me.

"The lady said to let go, Snivellus," I heard James Potter say. Ugh, not who I wanted to come to my rescue, but if it got Severus away from me, I'd deal.

"This is none of your business, Potter," Severus spat. James lightly pushed me away from Severus.

"It doesn't matter what my business is, Snape. She asked you to leave her alone; you need to do it." Potter's hazel eyes looked down at me. "Alright there, Evans?" I nodded, suddenly thankful for the interruption.

"Goodbye, Severus," I said. Walking away, I wondered why my heart fluttered when Potter looked at me... No matter, I thought, continuing on to the Great Hall.


	2. Potions Class

**A/N: For those of you who see this update – and care that there's another chapter – you can go personally thank FredNeverDied. Fred, for some reason, is intent on me continuing stories that were NOT supposed to be continued, quite like this one… Thanks, Fred. Damn you AND your peer pressure… **

Why My Heart Fluttered (Again)

After lunch I headed to Potions, which we had the joy of sharing with the Slytherins. I knew I would see Severus there, but the trick was picking a table at which someone already sat so he didn't have an opportunity to worm his way into a conversation with me. Unfortunately, the only seats available were two tables near the back where no one sat. If I picked one and no one sat next to me, I would be doomed.

I picked the table closest to the door so I would know when he came in. As I began unpacking the things I would need for class, the chair next to me squeaked against the stone floor as someone drug it away from the table.

"Lily," I heard him say. "We need to talk." I didn't look away from my parchment.

"We've nothing to talk about, Severus. In fact, there's no reason for us to say anything to each other ever again. It's quite clear what you think of me. Now I can focus on my Mudblood priorities while you and your elitist friends run amok, mocking those with dirty blood," I said, quoting some of his so called friends. He scoffed at my words, but I knew they had dug deep. Apparently I had some Slytherin tendencies, too. "Leave, Severus. I don't want to sit next to you."

"I can't leave. Class is about to start," he said, smirking. I huffed my indignation, crossing my arms and staring straight forward, craning my neck a bit so I didn't see the black hair of my new enemy in my peripheral vision.

Where's Potter when you need him? I thought.

Holy Hippogriffs, did I really just think that?

I must be ill.

xXx

After class, and after we had successfully brewed our potion, Amortentia, Severus and I were cleaning up our cauldrons and desktops. I had gotten through the class without having to speak to him too much, but I could feel his need to say something to me.

I wasn't wrong; after we had turned in our vial of the potion to Professor Slughorn, we made our way back to our table to gather our things. I had just finished putting my parchment back into my bag when Severus grabbed my arm.

"Let go of me, Severus. We've done this too many times today." I pulled away from him but his grip only increased.

"I will not leave this room until you speak to me, Lily. You're acting a fool," he spat.

I couldn't believe it. Severus was my only friend after Petunia had begun to act as though I wasn't really a part of the family, and he promised that we would be friends forever. Then he gets sorted into Slytherin and starts acting differently toward me? Suddenly I'm a Mudblood because his new friends didn't want him to hang out with people whose blood was "unpure"?

I wasn't going to stand for it.

"Go to hell, Snape," I said. I pulled out my wand and sent a hex flying at him, I wasn't sure which one. I left the room without grabbing any of my stuff and ran. I didn't pay attention to the looks I was getting from people, I only wanted to find a place to be by myself.

I wound up in a deserted hallway on the seventh floor, in front of a weird tapestry of a man trying to teach trolls how to arabesque.

I need to be alone.

I need to be alone.

I need to be alone.

I heard stone scrape against stone.

I whirled around and found myself face-to-face with a giant door. I walked forward, pushed it open, and gasped.

"What is this place?"


	3. In the Common Room

As I left the secret room, I wondered what time it was. It hadn't felt like I was in the room that long, but my stomach had been growling while I was thinking over the events of that day.

Of course, I wasn't hungry anymore. As soon as I had thought about leaving for dinner, a platter of roasted chicken and vegetables had appeared and I had eaten my fill of the delicious dinner.

But now it was time for me to return to reality. I'd thought about a lot of things while I had been in my personal sanctuary. First off, I realized that I no longer cared what Severus thought about me. There were more important things to focus on, like school, my end-of-the-year exams, Potter, my other friends, my problems with Petunia.

Potter?

I stopped walking somewhere in the middle of the Seventh floor, near the Gryffindor common room, and mentally shook myself. _POTTER? _Why in the world would Potter be important to me?

Then it hit me. Of course! I was a Prefect. Potter was important because I used all of my time on Prefect duty threatening Potter and his friends with detentions and the like.

I smiled to myself. Ha, Potter. What a joke.

Though, I could use some of his jokes right now…

I made my way to the common room, hoping that Potter and his friends were making fools of themselves like they usually were. I needed a laugh.

I gave the Fat Lady the password and made my way through the portrait hole, looking around for Potter and his gang as I did so. But no one was in the common room. It must be dinner time, I thought. I walked over to the sofa in front of the fireplace, deciding to just wait until dinner was over for entertainment. I didn't want to go down to the Great Hall and risk running into Severus.

I meant to plop down on the sofa and perhaps read a book, but when I looked down I saw a messy-haired boy with black hair and glasses sleeping soundly.

_Potter ruins everything_, I thought to myself.

_Except when he saved you from Severus earlier_, a voice in my head offered. I groaned.

_I didn't ask for that, did I Voice? No, I didn't. And besides, if he's such a hero how come he wasn't there in Potions?_

_Not that I care._

The voice was quiet.

Irritated, I decided to take my anger out on the person nearest, who just so happened to be the one causing me all this frustration. I leaned down and shook the boy's shoulder.

"Wake up, Potter." He jerked awake, staring blearily. When he realized it was me, he smiled.

"I could get used to waking up to your beautiful face, Lily-flower," he smiled. I rolled my eyes.

"Scoot over, Potter," I said, knocking his legs down to the floor. I plopped down and crossed my arms, still highly frustrated. Feeling the stare of Potter wasn't helping. "Shouldn't you be down at dinner?" I questioned him. He shook his head.

"I was going to, but you took so long to show up that I fell asleep." I gave him an inquisitive look. "I wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened with Snivellus in Potions. Sirius wouldn't let me intervene, said you were a tough bird, you could handle it. I wasn't so sure, and then when he grabbed your arm like that I almost hexed him, but then you said something and left. I had a few choice words with Snape, then grabbed your bag for you and tried to find you but you were gone. So I came up here and waited for you. Here's your bag, by the way," he finished, handing me my school bag. I was speechless. Potter really was a hero. Suddenly, I wasn't so irritated.

"Thanks, Potter," I said softly. I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I looked down at my hands. That's when I noticed the hand-shaped bruise wrapped around my wrist.

Apparently Potter noticed it, too, because he softly took my arm and whispered, "I should have given the bastard worse than that." I glared at Potter, even while he grabbed his wand, touched it to my arm, and whispered a healing charm. I glared at him even harder when he kissed the healed skin. He looked up at me with a smile until he noticed the look I was giving him.

"What did you mean by 'worse than that'?" I asked, venom in my voice.

Potter's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again like he wasn't quite sure what to say.

"What did you do, Potter?" I growled. I wasn't happy with Severus, but Potter's hexes, especially when he was upset, were almost as nasty as mine.

"Now, Lily, why do you always assume I did something wrong—?"

"Potter!"

"Okay! Yes, I hexed him, Evans! But did you see what he did to your arm?" James yelled back. I stood up and pointed my wand at him, furious that he took it upon himself to hurt Severus.

"I don't need you coming to my rescue, Potter! I can handle myself!"

"Oh, yeah, looked like you were doing a great job with that, Evans! He had his wand pointed at you while your back was turned! If it hadn't been for me, he would have hexed you before you were out the door, Lily! Excuse me for giving a rat's arse about you!" Potter yelled, standing and pointing his wand at me.

I stopped. I stopped breathing, stopped thinking, stopped everything. I couldn't do anything but stare at the black-haired boy in front of me.

"He… He drew his wand on me?" I whispered when I found my voice. Potter lowered his wand and nodded solemnly. "And… And you hexed him?" He nodded again and fell backwards onto the sofa. I lowered my wand.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I know you can handle yourself, but I wasn't going to stand by and watch him hurt you even more," Potter said. I sighed and sat next to James on the sofa. I suddenly wished I was back in the secret room, away from all of this new information.

"Thank you, James. For everything," I said softly. His head jerked up and his eyes met mine.

"'James'?" he asked. I giggled.

Wow, that just happened.


	4. With the Marauders

"Yes, James," I said. I felt a lot better, knowing that my hero had come to my rescue again, even though it meant he hexed my ex-best friend.

I got a smile from the hazel-eyed boy and that made my heart skip a beat.

Merlin's pants, what was happening to me?

"Erm, Lily? Now that we're on a first-name basis, can I ask you a question?" he asked meekly. I didn't like the sound of that.

"Watch it, Potter. I've still got my wand," I told him. He chuckled.

"It's not anything bad, I promise," he said. I narrowed my eyes but nodded anyway.

"Okay, feel free not to answer, but… Why were you friends with Snape, anyway?" That caught me off guard.

"Well, he was always there for me, even before Hogwarts. He's the one who told me I was witch and he helped me keep my powers under control. He was there for me when Petunia, my sister, was awful to me because I was different than she was. He was always a good friend, until he started hanging out with those evil friends of his. They changed him, and it took him calling me a Mudblood for me to realize it," I answered. I hadn't expected to be that honest with James, but it felt good to have it all off my chest.

"I'm really sorry, Lily. You deserve better than that," James said. I smiled.

"Thanks again for coming to my rescue so much today. I thought I could handle him, but I suppose not," I said. "Which is incredibly upsetting. I don't like feeling helpless." I didn't know why I was admitting all of this stuff to James; I just felt very comfortable around him. It must have been because he wasn't acting like an arrogant prat like he always did when he was with his friends.

Suddenly, the portrait opened and the Gryffindors returned from dinner. I jumped up, not quite ready to be seen acting civilly with James. He jumped up too and stretched.

"Well, see you later, Lily-flower," he waved, heading toward the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" I asked. I also didn't want to stop talking to him yet.

"Oh, erm… Well, after I hexed Snape, Slughorn kind of gave me detention. I've got it from seven to eleven tonight. I'll see you later, Lily," he said, turning toward the door again.

"James, wait!" I didn't know why I said it, but now that I had… I threw my arms around him and squeezed. "Thank you," I whispered before pulling back quickly. He stared at me for a second, then smiled and walked out of the common room.

I sat down on the sofa, not caring if anyone saw me hug Potter. I was trying to remember where I had smelled his cologne before. It was vaguely familiar.

I felt a weight press down the other end of the couch. I looked over and saw none other than Sirius Black. I sighed. Of course, he would come along and ruin everything.

"What do you want, Black?" I asked, annoyed that he was turning my good mood sour.

"Oh, so he's James but I'm 'Black'? I'm hurt, Evans," he said, feigning offence.

"Go away, Sirius. I'm not in the mood." I just wanted James to come back. I enjoyed talking to him.

"Hey, I just came over to make sure you weren't leading on my best mate. Because if you are, Evans… I'll get Remus to hex you for me," he said, inspecting his nails. I scoffed.

"It's just because you know you'll lose," I smiled. "And Remus wouldn't hex me if you paid him." As soon as I said that, the sandy-haired boy plopped down on the floor in front of us and gave me a look.

"I don't know, Lily. I've been eyeing a new book at Flourish and Blott's. I may hex you for it," he said jokingly. Sirius and I laughed, which surprised me. We'd never laughed at anything together. Ever.

"Wotcher, Moony. The bird's got a mean Entomorphis jinx." Sirius could speak from experience. The previous month I had cast _Entomorphis_ when he stole my Herbology essay, and he was crawling around like an insect for two hours. A few girls were turned off by the feelers, and I had gotten a good laugh out of it.

"And don't you forget it, Black," I giggled. Remus gave me a look, and I knew what he was thinking. Since when did I giggle while talking to Sirius Black? It was a good question. I guess not having Severus around blurring my view of the Marauders let me see them for who they really were.

Perhaps I owed James an apology.

_And the rest of them, too._

_Oh, hello, Voice. Lovely to see you're back._

_Stop talking to yourself and do what's right_, the voice said.

That was weird.

Peter had made his way over during my conversation with the voice – myself? – and I was glad I could do this all at one time.

"Erm, guys?" I said quietly. The three of them looked at me expectantly. Sirius had a smirk on his face while Peter looked scared. Remus' eyebrows were drawn down in confusion. "I just wanted to say… I'm sorry for the nasty things I've said and done in the past few years. I guess Severus was influencing me more than I thought. Will you forgive me?" The trio stared at me.

"Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?" Peter asked, smiling. I grinned back at him.

"I'm still Lily, Peter. I've just had a change of heart," I told him. I wondered vaguely if James didn't have something to do with that.

"Is that so?" Remus asked with a smile.

"It is," I stated. Sirius let out a bark of laughter. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is something funny, Black?"

"No, nothing. I just remembered that James is all alone down in the dungeons, cleaning out cauldrons. I bet he'd sure like some company." I stared at him a little too long to be considered polite, then stood, hoping to seem nonchalant.

"Well, I suppose I should go talk to Professor McGonagall about… that thing… she wanted to talk about… See you later, boys!" I made my way out the portrait hole, ignoring the laughter that radiated from the three troublemakers.


	5. In the Dungeons

Halfway to the dungeons, what I was doing caught up with me. I was voluntarily going to visit James Potter in _detention. _What had gotten into me?

I found a small alcove and slid to the ground, pulling my knees up to my chest. I needed to take a minute and think logically about this.

James Potter. Potter. James. The Marauder. Whom I was going to visit. Willingly.

Why?

Because he'd saved me from Severus? He'd done that a thousand times; I had just never wanted it until today.

Because he'd defended me? Again, that was nothing new.

Something in me had changed; what was it?

Severus. It was because Severus was gone. He'd been brainwashing me against James.

I'd been brainwashing myself against him, too…

Sighing, I picked myself up off the ground and began walking again.

xXx

When I reached the dungeons, I realized that I could run into a Slytherin at any time, so I quickened my pace. When I turned the corner just before Slughorn's classroom, my fear came true. I ran into three Slytherins, all friends of Snape. Avery, Goyle, and Nott all stopped, mid-laugh to stare at me.

"Hello, boys," I said cheerfully. I didn't want my fear to show; unfortunately, they were expert manipulators and could easily pick a liar out of a crowd. But I was Gryffindor; I had my bravery on my side. The three boys walked towards me, sneering but I kept walking anyway. That is, until they got so close that I was forced to either run into them or back away. I chose the latter.

I backed up until I was in the corner of the hallway. Damn those Slytherin bastards!

"Hello, gorgeous," Avery smirked. My lip curled in disgust.

"She doesn't look too happy to see us," Nott said. "She should be grateful we're even gracing her with our presence."

"Indeed, she should," Goyle agreed. I laughed mirthlessly. "Are you grateful, Mudblood? Do you appreciate us for taking time out of our busy lives to be in the presence of someone so disgusting?" My stomach rolled.

"Answer him, you filthy beast!" Avery hissed, sending a Stinging hex my way. I cringed.

"Of course, Goyle. I am extremely grateful. Grateful that you've presented me with the opportunity to do this!" I pulled out my wand. "_Entomorphis_!" Goyle was suddenly on the ground, crawling around, and feelers twitching.

"You disgusting bitch!" Avery yelled. He flicked his wand at me, but I cast a Shield charm before anything could hit me. I cast _Langlock_, a new jinx that I had learned last year from Severus, so he couldn't talk. His surprise gave me time to cast Petrificus Totalus at Nott, keeping him from interfering. Now it was down to me and Avery.

He raised his wand to cast a nonverbal spell at me, but suddenly he was on his back. I looked past him to see Severus.

"Lily? What are you doing down here?" he asked, walking towards me. Avery stood and started flailing his arms at Severus, who asked, "Langlock?" I nodded. He performed the counter-spell. Avery started to raise his wand but then looked questioningly at Severus.

"No." That was all he had to say. Avery leered at me, but dropped his wand and crossed his arms.

"I don't need your help, Severus. I can take care of—"

"Shut it, Evans." I flinched. He'd never talked to me like that. "_Finite Incantatum_." He fixed his friends, who all glared at me, then turned to give me a once over.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sounding indifferent. I couldn't speak. I only stared at him.

"Are you too stupid to talk?" Nott asked, earning appreciative looks from Avery and Goyle. Severus cast a nonverbal spell at him, and he jumped and rubbed his arm as if it had been punched.

"Let's just go, Snape. She's obviously not talking," Avery said. Severus look at me, seemingly bored, and shrugged.

"We've things to discuss," he said to the boys. They all smiled wickedly and followed Severus down the hallway. Once they were gone, everything tumbled down on me at once. I let out a sob and stumbled down the hallway to Slughorn's classroom. I threw open the door which frightened James. The cauldron he was washing hit the floor with a loud bang and he spun around to stare at me.

"Lily!" he exclaimed. He rushed over to me and I threw myself into his arms. He rubbed my back and whispered soothing things to me until I stopped sobbing. Once I was able to speak, I spilled out everything that had just happened.

When I was finished, James gently pushed me down to sit on a desktop and untangled me from him. He grabbed his wand and strode toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I croaked, my voice weak from the tears.

"To find them," he answered. "They won't get away with this." He opened the door and was almost gone when I blurted out the one thing that would change my future.

"Don't leave me."


	6. The Amortentia

"Don't leave me."

James turned around slowly, a blank expression on his face. He started to take a step toward me, hesitated, and then took a step back. He slowly drew his wand and pointed it at me. I was so confused that I didn't think to draw mine.

"Finite Incantatum!" he yelled. I flinched.

"What the hell?" I cried, jumping off the table. I grabbed my wand and pointed it at him. "I don't know what you think you're doing, James Potter, but I have had entirely too many wands pointed at me today so you had better lower your wand or I will hex you into next week!" He dropped his wand. I sighed and put my wand back on the desk and fell to my knees, putting my head in my hands. Everything was so confusing; I couldn't handle it.

I heard James kneel in front of me. He gently pulled my hands away from my face and put a finger under my chin so I would look at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing his thumb across my cheek to catch a stray tear. I sniffed and pouted at him.

"Why did you do that? Did you think I was under a spell?" I murmured.

"Actually, I thought you may be one of the Slytherins, trying to make me vulnerable so you could hex me," he admitted. I smiled softly at his blush.

"Sorry to disappoint," I said, laughing quietly.

"I would never be disappointed that the girl of my dreams threw herself into my arms," he declared. His hazel eyes, usually full of laughter, were now dark and smoldering. I felt my heart skip a beat. Was he going to kiss me?

Suddenly, he pulled away from me and stood. He offered a hand, which I took, and pulled me off the floor and into his arms. I smelled that familiar scent again, and leaned in closer to take a deeper whiff.

"Erm, Lily? What are you doing?" he asked, chuckling. I pulled away quickly, cursing the blush that colored my cheeks.

"Nothing." The lie sounded unconvincing even to me. "So, Slughorn has you down here cleaning the cauldrons?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

James laughed and rubbed his neck, seemingly embarrassed. "Er, yeah. Sluggie said that since I was so in love with you, I should clean the Amortentia residue from the cauldrons. Something about feeling like you were there helping me clean faster. I don't understand his logic, but I'm used to it."

"Is that what you smell when you brew Amortentia?" I asked, grabbing a sponge to start on the cauldrons. I could have used my wand, but I wanted to stay with James as long as possible. I felt safe with him.

"Not you, exactly. More your shampoo and your perfume. Like apple blossoms and sunshine and… Merlin, I sound like a creep," he laughed. I smiled, happy for some reason that his Amortentia smelled like me.

I didn't say anything as I scrubbed a cauldron. I breathed in the Amortentia, curious what mine smelled like. I didn't have a chance to decipher it earlier with Severus breathing down my neck the entire time.

I took a deep breath but all I could smell was James. I turned to tell him to back away so I could find out what my Amortentia smelled like, but he was nowhere near me. He was across the room, gathering more cauldrons.

"Hm." I pushed my nose further into the pot; the smell got stronger, but didn't change. I dropped the pot.

I smelled it earlier in Potions class; I smelled it when I hugged James; I smelled it when he was near.

"Lily? Are you okay?" he asked, walking toward me. I stared at him. "What's wrong?"

"It's you," I muttered to myself.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," he said, leaning closer.

"It's you!" I exclaimed, grabbing his face and laughing. He probably thought I was a maniac, but I had just made a life-altering discovery. My Amortentia, the potion that smelled like whatever attracted you, smelled like James Potter.

"Lily, darling, you're squeezing my face," he claimed. I quickly let go, only to throw my arms around his neck and put my nose in the crook of his neck. I inhaled deeply and smiled when the familiar scent I'd had in my head all day filled my nose. I pulled away from him and put my hands on my hips proudly.

"James Potter," I sighed. "Who'd have known?"

"Who'd have known what, Lily? You're not making any sense!" he said, laughing slightly.

I gestured to the Amortentia-coated cauldron. "It's you."

"It's me? What are you…?" Recognition flashed in his eyes. "It's me?" he exclaimed. I laughed and nodded. "YES!" He jumped up and punched the air. "I told you, Lily! I told you we were meant to be together! Haha!"

I laughed at his antics and waited for him to calm down. Once he had stopped dancing around, I looked at him expectantly.

"Are you quite finished now?" I implored. He smiled and nodded. "Good." I grabbed his face once again and pressed my lips boldly against his.

James Potter was the reason why my heart fluttered.

Who'd have known?

**A/N: There it is! This is the end of yet another story. I hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Much thanks to FredNeverDied, without whom this story would still be stuck at the first measly chapter. Thanks, Fred. And thanks to the rest of you who have stuck with this one 'til the end. :)**


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